City to re-launch its Mayday appeal

Members of the rock band Mayday, who extended an agreement to act as spokesmen for Greater Kaohsiung, are pictured in an undated photograph.

Photo: Hou Cheng-hsu, Taipei Times

The Taiwanese band Mayday (五月天) recently unveiled a plan to extend its one-year city spokesman contract with the Greater Kaohsiung Government — initially scheduled to expire next month — for another six months, as a way to express gratitude for the support extended by local residents for their music.

In July last year, the city government signed an NT$8 million (US$273,600) contract with the celebrated pop group, which has a huge and loyal fan base, to take up the role of the city’s global spokesperson.

A few weeks before the contract expired, the five-man rock band — which nabbed six awards at the 23rd Golden Melody Awards in Taipei on Saturday — notified the city government of its intention to serve as its spokespeople for another six months.

Grateful for the long-time support of their Kaohsiung fans, the music troupe said no extra fee would be charged for the prolonged period of the contract.

The city’s Information Bureau director-general Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) said Mayday had created immeasurable business opportunities for the city over the past year.

“The immense effects the band has produced cannot be measured financially, nor can they be outperformed by other potential spokesmen,” Lai said.

To increase the city’s global profile, the band has shot seven short films in which the harbor city features and these have been screened on airplanes and at underground stations in other nations.

The band also conferred on the city government the right of portrait for the purpose of printing exclusive calendars.

The pop group flew to Shanghai and Beijing in November last year and this month to promote Kaohsiung’s agricultural products and tourism industry.

Stepping up efforts as city spokespeople, the pop band plans to stage two live concerts at the city’s World Games Main Stadium later this year as well as screening a movie in the special municipality.